Blood, Bile and Bone
by AlbertoMalich
Summary: A last apology.


Long ago, in a distant land… No. I have lost so much. I will keep my dignity, at the last. That, at least, I may preserve.

The fault was mine. I released them. It costs me nothing to admit, as all who might have even attempted punishment are gone. Justice died with the samurai. While I might once have celebrated, I cannot bring myself to find joy in this. In nothing, anymore. It all seems so pointless. So childish. I have ceased hiding myself. I believe they could have found me regardless, if the whim took them. I think they will come soon.

He came to me, near the end, before the destruction was complete. Before they grew bored with their new toy. I hid behind increasingly desperate bravado, sending my freaks and robots against them as though this was just another challenge, as though they were just another foe. He fought them too, in his own way. He failed, of course. He told me that he believed that my powers combined with those in his sword might stand a chance against them. I laughed, and told him to kill himself, and to give me the sword. I was still playing games, still pretending it mattered.

I do not know why I am writing this. I am still pretending, I suppose. There is no one to read it. It will not be very long before no one is left at all. A confession? A last gasp of vanity? I cannot even find the strength to despair within me. My last weakness, my last failing, will be to leave behind me a mockery of what might have been. The sword that accompanies this message, I forged with the last of my power. It did not avail me, but I will leave it to you. You may find a use for it. Even in this ruined place past all emotion or sanity, it seems… appropriate that a sword will play a part in my demise. I will give this to the swiftest of my few remaining servants. Perhaps they will succeed in hiding it before they are taken.

I ruled a planet for eons. Now I will die, powerless, alone, and nameless. I feel them approaching, like a tide rising. May my end be swift.

* * *

The third most unsettling thing about them was the light that they produced, or more accurately, that accompanied them. It didn't behave like regular light. It didn't blend. It didn't shade. The world was reduced to an outline, layered on three hard-edged monochromatic stripes.

The second most unsettling thing about them was that they were to all appearances little girls, floating three feet off the ground, and smiling as though a promised treat was in evidence.

The first was that they weren't little girls, not really, not when you looked close. The expression on their faces was not a smile.

He stared at the red one, the one in the center.

The blue one emitted a high pitched squeak, and clapped.

The green one made a sound like laughter. He turned his head, and closed his eyes.

* * *

The woman in gold finished reading the document. She had found it under an altar in the church of a dead god. Or nestled in the remains of a shattered clay statue. Or behind an ornately decorated book in an abandoned library… like so much else, like everything else, it didn't matter. All places were alike, all equally dangerous. In all the world there was no succor, and no safety. Save, perhaps, in the document, and in the woman.

She had curly red hair, tightly wound in a braid. She was dressed in shining golden armor, and she had a patch over her left eye. On her head she wore a circlet. On her back she bore a sword. In her hands, she held another. She used it with easy familiarity, examining it before strapping it to her back alongside the other, in the manner of a samurai.

She scanned the document quickly once more, as if committing it to memory, and then took out a pen. Her curving, rounded handwriting in sparkly purple gel made a jarring contrast with the crabbed, blackened scrawl above. She wrote for a short time, and then stowed the pen and the parchment in a case on her belt.

Then she left.

* * *

Loot my corpse and run. There are nutrients and water purifiers in my belt. Leave the armor, it is useless to you. Take this paper, and **take the swords.** Find a place out of common sight and hide. If you have the will and the skill, use them. If not, find someone who does. They are not gods. I faced them, and I stood thereafter. I have spent the coin of my life to buy the world a future. I command you to do the same.

- P.


End file.
